To start out with I’m going to have to say it…I’ve been trying not to jinx it…but we have no bugs!! It’s soooo eeeasy to be cheerful about that. I understand it might have to do with warmer waters, the July-type temperatures we’re having. I don’t really care why. Do you think we may have escaped them this year? Because the dragon flies have already landed. The lake trout however, still seem to be swarming, hungry…but deeper than usual —(thanks to Lee for the photo—taken on South Arm Knife).
The staff have arrived and are falling into step……meals are lively, delicious, I like them. Lots of busy preparation. Staff members stop by the window into my office, lean in to talk about mops and coffee filters, weddings and evolution. Just as it should be.

And Denali has returned to her ever-important role, as primary squirrel patrol. Note the enlargement of the squirrel….Denali is SURE she has to come down. The squirrel is SURE that the dog will go away—and so it goes, for looooong faithful hours.

Last weekend I was re-reminded what a lucky thing it is to hang around relaxed people on vacation. The regular Memorial day cabin guests slipped into their routines—great people..we couldn’t get enough of them….some fish early in the morning, others come in at 11:30am to borrow the pancake syrup, some take marathon day trips, some read on the deck. They were just so happy about it all.

I even took a little vacation last Saturday afternoon…cousins Danny and Joe who traditionally spend ALL of daylight hours (beginning before 5am) fishing on Round lake…needed a little change of scenery so I took them to the Seagull Lake ripple. I had big plans for my 2 hour vacation…I brought my book, my Skittles and my water bottle, I thought I might have time for a nap………..pure luxury.
It was a little nugget of treasure to be the duffer for these two lanky adolescents. Their voices are changing, but they still giggle. As longtime fishing buddies, they have their own jargon—like “leech me” or—“grab the net Sue, and you can have the assist”. They spend half the time snagged, or switching lures, or paddling to the next best spot, but still they were reeling them in.

After awhile, they told me some secrets, like when they were little kids and they used to have a fishing swear-word-of-the-day. They chatted about school, about girls. They make me proud of the young men they are becoming. Joe’s very curious about burned trees and camping people, and white water, and how things are. He gets to the point, and his questions disarm me. On Sunday afternoon, when one of our guests made a wrong turn on the hiking trail, and we were trying to organize to find him in the rain (another story–in short, he actually found his own way back out—because he never left a trail)—Joe re-focused me during a worried moment. “Wait Sue, you’re freaking me out, what are we talking about? Is this guy going to die?” I love his directness. He made me stop and clear my head,
then I had to say….”Well, no . I really don’t think so Joe.”

All in all we did get to participate in some vacation memories. Welcome summer! The pages on the calendar are starting to fly.